Given the current economic situation it is safe to say that we could all fair better with a few extra bucks in our pocket. The following money saving tips were written to help you save money once you are committed to making an online purchase — we will assume here that you have already compared prices and narrowed your choices down to 1 reputable store that you feel comfortable with. While these tips were written with our novelty store in mind, they can easily apply to many e-commerce sites.

1) Always order in plenty of time (*when possible)

It sounds simple, but this is the biggest way that the average web shopper can save money. There will always be a need for last minute shopping so expedited shipping services such as Next Day Air are a great convenience, but carriers charge a hefty premium for that convenience. Plus, not only will ordering with plenty of time to spare save you potentially costly shipping charges, but this will also allow enough time to rectify any unforeseen errors in the event that they do happen. Nobody wants to believe that their package could be lost or mishandled by the carrier, but those things do happen, albeit rarely. If you don’t allow for a bit of cushion though, the merchant may not be able to fix anything by your deadline in the event that something does go wrong because they usually aren’t notified or aware until you contact them.

2) Review your shipping options carefully

Just because one shipping method costs more than another does not necessarily mean it is faster. And just because one service is called priority & another is not does not mean anything at all. UPS ground is faster than USPS priority to most locations, and many times (especially on 2lb rates and above) it is also cheaper.

Not every order weighs the same or is being shipped to the same location, or is needed in the same timeframe so you need to pick the right method for you — we try to make sure there is at least 2 options for every order. Don’t wait to decide on shipping while you are in the middle of the checkout, be sure to review the shipping page as well (that is what it is there for). Any reputable merchant should have clearly outlined shipping guidelines of what you can expect once your order is placed. As always, if you have an unanswered question just ask.

3) Pay attention to quantity pricing

This doesn’t apply to most merchants, but for stores like ours that offer wholesale and/or staggered pricing, be sure pay attention to the price breaks! We can’t emphasize this enough. We can’t emphasize this enough.

As an example, if you order 1 bag of cigarette loads you pay the low cost of $1.50, however if you order 10pc you pay a lower cost of $1.10ea. And the prices drop further from there. So if you were planning on ordering 8 @ $1.50ea ($12) anyway, it would make sense to just go ahead and order 10 @ $1.10ea ($11). In many cases not only are you saving money, but you are getting MORE for LESS. The easiest thing you can do is to get out of the habit of ordering things in quantities of 10, especially for the carded novelties as they are all packed, bought, and therefore sold by the dozens. This is the only reason our quantity discounts are setup like that.

Almost all of our products have quantity discount tables smack dab in the middle of the page, and that equals instant savings which will automatically be applied to your cart.

4) Look for sale items

Following on the last point, have you looked at both overstock items, and rebates for comparable items? While the item you are looking at may not be heavily discounted, there are probably other items which may be. If you are buying a shocking game for Timmy and he isn’t particular on what game itself, browse around and you will surely find something for less.

And remember, if you see something for dirt cheap it is generally because we are sitting on piles of it that we need to move, and not because of a poor product. As an example, we currently have 1,802 bill snatchers on hand (3x more than usual), so those prices are now at the ridiculous price of just $0.36ea! The same thing applies to several of the “combo’s” that we offer. 1 shocking pen & 1 shocking lighter individually for $3ea is a great deal, but both of them together in our shocking combo for $5.50 is even better. 50cents is still 50cents no matter which way you add it up.

5) Lastly, don’t buy more than you need

We aren’t at all saying that our products are ‘discretionary’ purchases. What we mean here is don’t buy way more than you need if you are planning a large party or event. The last thing we want to do is sell you a ton of something you don’t need and will most likely return in the end anyway. That costs both of us money. If you are planning a groucho record breaking event and you are expecting 3k participants, don’t order 5k.

Of course you can return nearly any item (even 2,000 of something), with very few exceptions, you just may not qualify for a refund on shipping, and we aren’t going to reimburse your return shipping if you ordered too much. We could just as easily send out a second order if you needed, and that way you would only be charged for extra shipping one way.

Again, although this was written from our perspective these principles can help you save money just about anywhere you shop online. Hopefully you leave, assuming you have read up until this far, a smarter, more conscientious, more frugal consumer.